Observations on economics, the academy, the wider world, and things that run on rails.

12.5.14

THE UNION OF FISH WITH BICYCLE IS BARREN.

Unfortunately, in the real world, there is bastardy. Those kids will have a harder time making it in the world than their counterparts growing up in traditional households.

Fathers still earn a good portion of household income in married families, and are thus able to contribute to a child’s education via investment in good school districts, educational activities, and college tuitions. Additionally, [W. Bradford Wilcox's] studies have shown that fathers are more likely to introduce their children to a work environment, athletic activities, civil society, and politics. They’re also more likely to encourage their children to be independent and to take risks (not to say mothers can’t encourage such activity—he just meant fathers, statistically speaking, are likely to encourage such things).

Mr Wilcox participated in a panel organized by the American Enterprise Institute. Yes, the findings are unlikely to convince the Perpetually Aggrieved, as they are likely to consider the venue a nest of hegemonic biases.

How to solve this problem? The panelists agreed that, at root, parental absences are often tied to marital issues. Though we do want to provide support to single-parent homes, regardless of the marital situation at hand, it’s important to note that stable marriages often lead to stable parent/child relationships.